1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to informational articles which are provided with a zone within which information will be provided either in handwritten or printed form and, more specifically, it relates to providing such an article wherein both counterfeiting, through photocopying, and alteration through manual or printed means are resisted.
The present invention also relates to an alteration resistant article which is adapted to have an end user adding variable data, such as custom variable data provided thereon prior to completion of the article and to a method of making the same. The invention is particularly suited to use in vehicle temporary registration permits for entering expiration dates and other information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been known for many purposes to provide means to protect informational articles from counterfeiting and alteration. For example, with respect to paper currency, it has been known to use special inks, graphic designs, codes and materials to make it more difficult for counterfeiters to copy the currency.
It has also been known to protect cards from deterioration and alteration by encasing them between a pair of laminated plastic sheets.
It has also been known to employ holograms in credit cards so as to inhibit unauthorized reproduction.
A unique problem exists in respect of certain items which must be completed by an intermediary after initial manufacture prior to delivery to the end user. For example, in a typical motor vehicle temporary registration plate, the state has had printed on paper or paperboard all of the information required for the temporary registration which is to be employed until the permanent license plate is received, except the date of expiration. The date of expiration is typically applied by the use of a pen, marker or other printing means by the dealer at the time of sale. It is obviously important that the temporary plate be such that it cannot be easily counterfeited by photocopying and the information provided by the dealer as to expiration date cannot be altered.
With respect to many products, wherein a preprinted product is completed through the insertion of information, which may frequently be handwritten by pen, marker, or other means, depending upon the nature of the product and the distance from which one might wish to have the completed product viewed, i.e., the preprinted form, plus the subsequent insertion of customized handwritten insertions of variable data, there have been problems with respect to unauthorized alteration and counterfeiting. One of the items falling within this category is the temporary registration permit which is issued by states for use on vehicles, such as cars, trucks and buses which are licensed to operate within a given state. These permits are typically about the size of a license plate and have certain preprinted information from the state, including the temporary permit number, and have spaces for insertion by an auto dealer, for example, of vehicle identity information, such as the make and year of the vehicle, the vehicle identification number ("VIN") and the dealer identification. Generally in large print, which can read by a police officer and others at a substantial distance, the date of expiration of the permit is inserted by a marker so as to provide the information in highly visible wide lines.
One of the problems which has been encountered with respect to such vehicle temporary registration permits is the fact that an individual receiving the same can by use of a marker, having the identical color ink, alter the date of expiration. For example, a permit which originally was indicated as expiring on 07/01/96, could have the number "7" changed to a "9," thereby making the altered permit appear as if it were not going to expire for two months after the actual expiration date.
In my related U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,763, issued on Dec. 6, 1994, and entitled "Tamper Evident and Counterfeit Resisting Informational Article and Associated Method," I disclosed a system wherein after the customized information inserted by the auto dealer, or other authorized individual, is provided with a transparent tape which is adhesively bonded over the area of inserted information and is provided with an exterior write-resistant coating. This type of construction resists undesired alteration of the permit information. This patent also suggested the use of holograms in this region of the permit which contains inserted information so as to resist unauthorized photocopying of the permit.
The use of an overlying transparent adhesively secured tape and a relatively thin strip of underlying hologram extending along the length of the transparent film, but of lesser width has been known. It has been known to remove both the film and hologram and separate them and to apply to the substrate a strip of some generic diffraction material of the same size as the original hologram and to place new numbers on the substrate and to cover the same with another clear film made of cellophane tape. For a police officer viewing the permit from a passing car, or at a distance, it was difficult to tell such constructions from the original.
Another approach to unauthorized tampering has involved photocopying of the original permit, employing a masking material of the same color as the permit, such as that sold under the trade designation "White-Out" to cover the old expiration date, and then photocopying the newly created blank permit. Many copies could be made from this original. The hologram material, either a generic type, or hologram salvaged from prior expired temporary registration permits could then be glued onto the copy with the new expiration date written thereover, and cellophane tape provided thereover.
In spite of the foregoing known systems, there remains a need for informational articles, such as temporary vehicle registration plates, which will resist counterfeiting and alteration subsequent to the dealer's insertion of the required information.
It will be apparent, therefore, that for vehicle temporary registration permits and certain other documents, wherein a preprinted form is provided with customized variable information, there remains a need for such a product and method which will provide improved resistance to undesired tampering, counterfeiting and alteration.